Pizza Placates Reluctant Robber

Would-be robber breaks down in tears during crime; clerk gives him free meal to help feed family.

Police are looking for a man who tried to rob Papa John's Pizza in Helena, Montana.

But because the man had a surprising change of heart, Helena Police Chief Troy McGee says he doesn't know exactly what they would charge him with.

Helena Police Chief Troy McGee says around midnight, a male suspect in a black Carhartt hooded jacket with a red bandana over his face, walked into the local Papa John's Pizza as the staff was closing shop. The 5 foot 9 man with slender build walked straight up to the clerk at the counter.

"He presented the clerk with a note which indicated something to the effect of 'Do what I say and no one will get hurt'" McGee says.

The clerk took out money and was going to give it to the suspect when the man broke down and began crying.

McGee says according to the clerk, the man said the reason for his actions was he was trying to provide for his wife and family, who were hungry.

The clerk then talked to him for a few minutes, and decided to make the man a pizza and some chicken wings.